Don’t think the Second Life land rush is over. Now a huge real estate firm is entering the 3D virtual world, as the service’s headlong growth continues.

Real estate deals may be slowing in the real world, but in the three-dimensional online one of Second Life the market remains hot. Now Coldwell Banker, one of the nation’s largest real estate brokerage firms, is entering Second Life, aiming to help bring order to the chaotic world of virtual real estate.

Coldwell Banker will open a virtual sales office and start selling virtual land at 9 a.m. on Friday. The company released the information exclusively to Fortune.

It’s more evidence that the Second Life naysayers are on the defensive. Despite skepticism, software and system troubles, and extraordinary hype, the three-dimensional virtual world juggernaut continues.

Coldwell Banker has bought extensive tracts of property on the central “mainland” of Second Life. (Most companies own “islands” scattered all over.) It subdivided this digital land into 520 individual houses and living units, half of which it will sell and half it will rent.

Read more here.

Coca-Cola Belgium will be the first soft drink company to use the Magazine on a Bottle concept. On Product Publishing, which created the innovative labelling technology, worked closely with Coca-Cola Belgium to adapt the labels to Coke’s iconic curvy bottle.

The first bottles of Coca-Cola Light (chilled 500 ml PET) with GLAM*IT mini-mag attached will be on the shelves in April 2007. Published by Sanoma, GLAM*IT is a Belgian fashion and beauty magazine targeted to a young, female audience. Which makes for a good fit with Light/Diet Coke buyers. As stated by Mie Van der Auwera, editor of GLAM*IT: “Adapting editorial content for another brand is only credible if brand values mutually match. In the case of Coca-Cola Light and GLAM*IT that was no problem. That’s why it results in a powerful communication tool for both brands.” The removable 24-page magazine is a ‘light’ version of GLAM*IT, featuring typical content for the mag, but reduced to fit the bottle.

springwise.com

Before Cliff Finch entered the topiary trade, he was an underwater welder, setting up pipelines at the bottom of the North Sea. But for Finch, 58, the switch to creating garden sculptures wasn’t as erratic as one might think: Beneath every topiary Finch produces is a custom-welded metal frame holding the structure together. “Building the frame is the art,” Finch says, “Once you have the frame, you know exactly what you’re going to end up with.”

Today Finch and his wife, Joanie, own and run Cliff Finch’s Topiary Zoo in Friant, Calif., just north of Fresno. Finch does the welding and, over the years, has created sculptures ranging from the seven-foot chess pieces seen here to increasingly popular tabletop arrangements. In the past few months Finch designed and produced race- car- and jazz-themed centerpieces for private parties.

Rather than increase production by adding staff, the Finches have kept their business small - they’re the only employees, apart from a smattering of part-time support staff - limiting their revenues to about $75,000 a year. But for Finch, who retired in search of a less dangerous occupation, the topiary business has its perks: “It’s enjoyable,” he says, “and people like the sculptures. It has worked out.”

CNN Money

by Vivian McInerny, The Oregonian

He savored the speed. Engines blasting. Colors blurring. Cars rocketing past with a force he could feel in the bones of his teeth.

Tarran Pitschka, gripping steel railings for support, stood on the racetrack. Even as floating debris settled on his shoulders, the residue of seared tires from the cars burning past, he was thinking, “Cool! What can I do with this feeling?”

The answer was to create a line of cranked-up T-shirts and caps called Wicked Quick.

“It’s not satanic. It’s tough,” Pitschka said.

Harley-Davidson and other specialty shops picked up the line. Pitschka felt confident the appeal reached wider, so he took Wicked Quick to a trade show, hoping to capture the attention of menswear buyers. A stylist who claimed she was working on a movie set bought a few pieces for the actors. Pitschka was skeptical. But last week he received a DVD trailer for the July release of “1408″ based on a Stephen King novel about a haunted hotel room, and there is actor John Cusack wearing an early Wicked Quick T-shirt.

Nordstrom began testing the brand this month, with 1,200 pieces in 13 stores. Pitschka hopes to expand the Wicked Quick brand to include other designs, such as his Teflon-coated stretch nylon jacket and a leather duffel bag embossed with the distinctive graphics. Wicked Quick is available in the U.S., Canada and Germany, and Pitschka hopes soon to land accounts in South America and Australia to give the still small brand global reach.

For now, the company still consists of one person.

More on this, click here.

Everyone wants success, however it is defined. For some, it can mean financial riches. For others, success can mean reaching the top of their field. Some simply define success as living a fulfilled and contented life.

Alan S. Becker in his book There’s Always Room at the Top: 8 Secrets of the Super Successful explores the secrets to success of some of the most well known people.

Becker breaks down the secrets to success as follows:

1. The two simple but necessary steps to success are: Set a goal and Do it.
2. Know Your Limitations.
3. Go With Your Gut.
4. Never Quit.
5. Keep Your Eye on the Doughnut.
6. There is Always Room at the Top.
7. Power Abhors a Vacuum.
8. The Paths of Life.

For more details on each secret, go here.

With each person receiving nearly 560 pieces of junk mail a year, a group of Michigan residents has come up with an idea to curb the waste.

Sander DeVries, and his brothers Shane Pfannes and Tim Pfannes, launched an online business to help people remove their names from direct mailing lists.

Tim came up with the idea because he was tired of his kitchen counter overflowing with junk mail, DeVries said.

With help from Shane and Sander, he spent a year researching organizations that take people off mailing lists. He passed along the information to family and friends but soon found no one had time to make phone calls or send e-mails.

Then he turned his brainstorm into a business, charging clients for help and donating some of the proceeds to nonprofit groups.

They launched their web site 41pounds last July. The service’s name refers to the 41 pounds of junk mail a person receives each year.

The Oakland Press

Flu masks get some fashionista flavor with the creations of New Yorker Patricia Lamberti, who has taken her Fashion Flu Masks where no flu masks have gone before.

Decorated with accoutrements like floral appliqués, leopard fabrics and satin ribbons, these protectors against pandemics strive to shed the shackles of postindustrial supply store.

But let’s face it: A fibrous oblong cover that obscures your nose, mouth, chin and cheekbones is pretty hard to make into anything beautiful. Still, it’s an attempt to say: Sick is bad enough, OK? We don’t have to look that way.

Paranoia levels vary among consumers, but choices are starting to appear that make taking control seem less about sacrifice, more about seamless integration.

coolbusinessideas.com